Fresh Window: The art of the Display Window and the Display of Art at the Tinguely Museum
The Tinguely Museum in Basel, Switzerland, presents the exhibition Fresh Window: The Art of Display & Display of Art, open until May 11th, 2025, offering an immersive exploration of the intersection between art and window displays. Featuring works by around forty artists from the 20th and 21st centuries, the exhibition examines the impact of window displays as both an aesthetic and social element, exploring their influence on contemporary art and urban culture.
LEFT: Andy Warhol, Bonwit's Loves Mistigri, wooden, panels, IA2021.1.1a-h. 1955, Reproduktion 2021, © The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. / 2024/2025 ProLitteris, Zürich, The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh; RIGHT: Loto, Ion Grigorescu, 1972, Oil paint, photographs and paper on canvas, 146 × 198 cm, © Ion Grigorescu, Tate: Purchased with funds provided by the Russia and Eastern Europe Acquisitions Committee 2014
The Concept of the Exhibition
The title Fresh Window references Marcel Duchamp’s iconic work “Fresh Widow” (1920), addressing the role of window displays as spaces of mediation between the public and art, embodying a duality as both a barrier and an invitation to gaze. From the rise of department stores in the 19th century to contemporary luxury boutiques, window displays have reflected not only aesthetic changes but also social and economic transformations.
 Installation view Fresh Window at Museum Tinguely, Basel, 2024, Greenpoint: New Fronts, Martha Rosler, 2015-today, C-prints, © Martha Rosler, Courtesy: Martha Rosler and Galerie Nagel Draxler, Berlin/Cologne, Photo Credit: 2024 Museum Tinguely, Basel; Pati Grabowicz
Featured Artists
The exhibition brings together works by renowned artists such as Andy Warhol, Peter Blake, Jean Tinguely, Christo, Tschabalala Self, Bertrand Lavier, Sarah Staton, Martha Rosler, Marina Abramović, Marcel Duchamp, Richard Estes, Ion Grigorescu, among others. These artists explore window displays as both artistic and critical elements, ranging from performative interventions to hyperrealistic paintings and installations.
Peter Blake, one of the leading figures of British Pop Art, also explored the aesthetics of shop windows in his detailed and vibrant paintings, capturing the material culture of consumerism. His work frequently engages with nostalgia and memory, reflecting on commercial façades and the objects of desire displayed within them.
Bertrand Lavier, in turn, plays with the relationship between art and design by recontextualizing everyday objects and elevating them to the status of artworks. Meanwhile, Martha Rosler critically examines consumer culture and urban transformation, often using photography, video, and installation to highlight issues such as gentrification and the commercialization of public spaces. Her series “Greenpoint: New Fronts” documents the changing storefronts of New York, revealing the social and economic shifts behind their evolving façades.
LEFT: Fresh Widow, Marcel Duchamp, 1920, replica 1964, Wood, metal, leather and Perspex, 78,9 × 53,2 × 9,9 cm, © Association Marcel Duchamp/2024-2025, ProLitteris, Zürich, Creditline: Tate: Purchased with assistance from the National Lottery through the Heritage Lottery Fund 1997; RIGHT: Installation view Fresh Window at Museum Tinguely, Basel, 2024, Fresh Widow, Marcel Duchamp, 1920, replica 1964, Wood, metal, leather and Perspex Dimensions: 78,9 × 53,2 × 9,9 cm, © Association Marcel Duchamp/2024/2025, ProLitteris, Zurich, Tate: Purchased with assistance from the National Lottery through the Heritage Lottery Fund 1997, Credit: 2024 Museum Tinguely, Basel; Pati Grabowicz
Jean Tinguely, in addition to working as a window dresser, created interventions that questioned consumer society. In 1969, he presented “Rotozaza III” in the window of the Loeb store in Bern, smashing crockery to critique wastefulness and consumer culture. His kinetic sculptures also evoke the ephemerality and mechanical nature of the display window as an object of desire and visual spectacle.
LEFT: Window display by Jean Tinguely, optician «M. Ramstein Iberg Co.», Basel, Approx. May 1949, © Staatsarchiv Basel-Stadt, BSL 1022 KA 1601, D Creditline: Museum Tinguely, Basel, Photo Credit: Peter Moeschlin; RIGHT: Jean Tinguely's Rotozaza III in the shop window of the Loeb department store in Bern, October 1969, © Staatsarchiv des Kantons Bern, Museum Tinguely, Basel, Photo Credit: Fredo Meyer-Henn
Christo and Richard Estes approached the concept of window displays in distinct ways. Christo, with his “Store Fronts” series (1964–68), wrapped storefronts in fabric and paper, denying their traditional function and concealing the allure of consumerism. In contrast, Estes recreated New York storefronts with his hyperrealistic painting style, emphasizing the opulence and superficiality of consumer culture.
Meanwhile, Tschabalala Self, in her ongoing series “Bodega Run” (since 2015), uses textiles and neon to evoke the bodegas of New York’s multicultural neighborhoods, highlighting the significance of these spaces as hubs of community interaction and cultural resistance.
 Customer 5 (right), Tschabalala Self, 2024, Acrylic, coloured pencil, fabric, painted canvas and thread on canvas canvas, © Tschabalala Self Studio Inc, Private collection, Switzerland, Customer 4, Tschabalala Self, 2024, Acrylic, coloured pencil, fabric, painted canvas and thread on canvas canvas, © Tschabalala Self Studio Inc, Maja Hoffmann/Luma Foundation, Photo Credit: 2024 Museum Tinguely, Basel; Pati Grabowicz
The Display Window as a Mirror of Society
Beyond exploring window displays as a stage for performances and a medium for artistic expression, the exhibition examines their role as a social mirror. Photographers such as Berenice Abbott and Eugène Atget documented urban storefronts. The exhibition also highlights the impact of digitalization on the disappearance of physical storefronts, sparking discussions on the transformation of urban commerce and the growing dominance of e-commerce.
LEFT: Purple Store Front, Christo, 1964, Wood, enamel paint, acrylic glas, fabric, acrylic paint, paper, wire mesh, door handle and lock, screws, nails, LED light, 235,3 x 220,3 x 34,9 cm, © 2024/2025 ProLitteris, Zürich, Christo and Jeanne-Claude Foundation, Photo Credit: Wolfgang Volz; RIGHT: The Toy Shop, Peter Blake, 1962, Wood, glass, paper, plastic, fabric and other materials, 156,8 × 194 × 54 cm, © 2024/2025, ProLitteris, Zürich, Tate: Purchased 1970
Urban Interventions in Basel
Expanding beyond the museum walls, "Fresh Window" extended into the streets of Basel with installations and performances in commercial storefronts from January 14th to March 2nd, 2025. Former students of the Institute of Art Gender Nature at FHNW transformed vacant shop windows into spaces of artistic experimentation, redefining the relationship between art, commerce, and the city.
LEFT: Installation view Fresh Window at Museum Tinguely, Basel, 2024, Burger Factory, Sayre Gomez, 2024, Acrylic on canvas, 213,4 x 304,8 cm, © Sayre Gomez, Courtesy: Sayre Gomez and Galerie Nagel Draxler, Berlin/Cologne, Photo Credit: 2024 Museum Tinguely, Basel; Pati Grabowicz; RIGHT: Installation view Fresh Window at Museum Tinguely, Basel, 2024, Fenster (Script), Jiajia Zhang, 2023, Blinds, perspex frame, lamp, vinyl, © Jiajia Zhang, Kunstmuseum St.Gallen, acquired in 2023 Photo Credit: 2024 Museum Tinguely, Basel; Pati Grabowicz
"Fresh Window" offers an innovative perspective on the relationship between art and window displays, uncovering lesser-known histories and fostering new interpretations. The exhibition encourages reflection on the display window as a stage for social, aesthetic, and political critique, as well as its evolution amid the transformations of the contemporary world.
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